The susceptibility of adolescents to chemical addiction has become a major international concern. Approximately 25% of people in Central Asia and Eastern Europe who inject chemical substances are under the age of 20 years (Youth at the United Nations, 2006), while up to 75% of unintentional injuries among adolescents in America are related to substance abuse (Page & Page, 2003:196). On the national level, approximately 25% of adolescents under the age of 20 are involved in substance abuse (Western Cape Department of Social Services and Poverty Alleviation Transformation Plan, 2006:13). Focusing on the Western Cape, a report from the South African Epidemiology Network (2007:3) highlights that the youngest patient in in-patient treatment was nine years of age, and among 2 798 persons who received in-patient treatment, 27% were under the age of 20, more than any other age group in treatment. Treatment of adolescent chemical addiction should include preparation for treatment, treatment, and also aftercare services to ensure that the addicted adolescent develops skills to maintain sobriety (Meyer, 2005:292-293). Section Six of the South African Prevention and Treatment of Drug Dependency Act (1992) prescribes that chemically addicted persons should have access to professional aftercare services to ensure that treatment is not terminated prematurely. The motivation for this study was based on the fact that, despite this statutory requirement, the Western Cape Drug Forum (2005:3) identified the need for the development of aftercare services in 2005, indicating the lack of focus on aftercare as part of treatment. This concern was confirmed by practitioners in the field of adolescent chemical addiction and findings resulted from previous research regarding relapse experiences of chemically addicted adolescents (Van der Westhuizen, 2007:129-130). / Social Work / D. Phil. (Social Work)

Afrikaans text / Die studie ondersoek die leemte aan teoreties gefundeerde riglyne om pleegouers in die bekendmakingsproses van hulle kind se MIV-positiewe status te ondersteun Die studie geskied binne die teoretiese raamwerk van ʼn intervensienavorsingsmodel. In die empiriese navorsing is die vrese en probleme van pleegouers by die bekendmakingsproses ondersoek. Daar is bevind dat hierdie vrese en probleme in ag geneem moet word in die beoogde riglyne. Die kognitiewe ontwikkeling van die kind is deur middel van ʼn literatuurstudie ondersoek om vas te stel watter kennis, denke en inligting die kind op verskillende ouderdomme begryp. Daar is bevind dat kinders wat MIV-positief is, moontlike agterstande ondervind en dat die riglyne gevolglik gebaseer moet word op die toenemende ontwikkeling van die kind, met begrip vir individuele ontwikkelingsverskille. Voorts is bevind dat pleegouers se eie gereedheid ʼn belangrike rol speel. Alhoewel die pleegouer die bekendmakingsproses self moet aanvoer en hanteer is dit belangrik dat die pleegouers deur ʼn interdissiplinêre span ondersteun en begelei sal word. / This study investigates the absence of theoretical grounded guidelines to support foster parents when disclosing paediatric HIV. The study was done within the theoretical framework of an intervention research model. The empirical research investigated the fears and problems experienced by foster parents during the disclosure process. It was found that these fears and problems should be taken into account when compiling guidelines. The child‟s cognitive development was researched by way of a literary study in order to determine what knowledge, thoughts and information the child is able to grasp at different ages. It was found that children who are HIV positive could possibly lag behind and that the guidelines should therefore be based on the accumulative development of the child, with consideration given to individual developmental differences. Furthermore, it was established that foster parents‟ own readiness plays an important role. For this reason the foster parents should be supported and guided by an interdisciplinary team, but that they themselves should take care and execute the process of disclosure. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Spelterapie)

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is an acquired physical disability through traumatic injuries such as car accidents and shooting incidents, and non-traumatic injury such as a tumour on the spinal cord, amongst others. Unlike other parts of the body, the spinal cord does not have the ability to repair itself if it is damaged. Consequently, a person who has acquired an SCI will have a physical disability and will be either a paraplegic – paralysis of the lower part of the body, including the legs, or a quadriplegic, which is paralysis of all four limbs. Acquiring a spinal cord injury (SCI) has devastating long-term negative outcomes for the injured person as well as his/her cohabiting partner on a physical, psychological, psychosocial and socio-economical level. Exposure to such prolonged adversity and resulting negative outcomes calls for resilience, namely the ability to positively adapt despite the adversity being exposed to. Not all individuals have the natural ability to “bounce back”, and consequently resilience promotion is imperative. In South Africa, the focus of service delivery in rehabilitation centres is mainly centred on the injured person and consequently the well-being of the spinal cord injured person’s partner (SCIPP) is neglected. Little information is available on resilience-promoting programmes for SCIPPs; thus the main aim of this study was to design and develop a group resilience-promoting programme (GRPP) for SCIPPs. The researcher mainly followed a qualitative research approach and included a small quantitative component. In the context of applied research, an intervention research model comprising six phases was employed. Phase 1, Problem analysis and project planning, was reported on in section A. Manuscript 1 reports on phase 2 (information gathering and synthesis), and consists of a qualitative research synthesis, and mainly aimed at organizing and synthesizing previous research on resilience-promoting processes in order to inform the design and development of a group resilience-promoting programme (GRPP) for SCIPPs. After a systematic review and quality appraisal a total of 74 papers were selected to be quality appraised after abstracts and titles were assessed for relevance. Twenty-one studies were included and synthesized where after an outline for the content of a GRPP for SCIPPs was formulated. Conclusions and recommendations highlight that the formulated GRPP for SCIPPs needs to be further developed into an intervention that could be implemented with SCIPPs. As such, the researcher therefore proceeded with the study (see manuscript 2), aiming in developing small-group programme content and activities (using knowledge gathered from pre-existing interventions; resilience literature; consultations with experts; people living with spinal cord injury (SCI) and personal experience) to promote resilience in SCIPPs. By means of purposive sampling six advisory panel members from a diverse background were interviewed before and after the pilot study with two SCIPPs and one observer to contribute towards the further development of the GRPP for SCIPPs. A six-session GRPP for SCIPPs was formulated, including the following: (1) Information on SCI and resilience; (2) Help SCIPPs understand that their reactions to/emotions regarding these huge changes are normal; (3) Caretaking and support; (4) My dual role; (5) Own caretaking by SCIPPs; and (6) Termination and way forward. The newly developed GRPP for SCIPPs however had to be formally evaluated. Recommendations were made by professionals in the field that the GRPP for SCIPPs should first be subjected to peer review prior to implementing it with the target population. Therefore in manuscript 3 (reporting on phase 5 – evaluation ) the evaluation purpose was to subject the GRPP for SCIPPs to peer review by means of an empirical study with professional role-players (social workers and psychologists) in the field of spinal cord injury, prior to exhibiting it to the target population. The six group sessions were presented to professional role-players (n=12) working within the field of SCI during two 2-day workshops, whereby they were requested to evaluate the content and procedural elements of the GRPP for SCIPPs mainly by means of qualitative research, with a small numerical (quantitative) component. Thematic content analysis and basic descriptive statistics were employed. Overall positive feedback regarding the newly developed intervention was received, with suggested adjustments that needed to be made to the GRPP for SCIPPs prior to formal evaluation with the target group. The GRPP for SCIPPs will further be subjected to expert review in other provinces in South Africa, as the current participants were all from Gauteng. Furthermore, postgraduate students will be recruited to test the programme with the target-population in South Africa for possible further improvement and suggestions, as well as possible expansion to adjust this intervention to meet the needs of male SCIPPs; SCIPs themselves; children of a parent/s living with SCI; and also for post-injury cohabiting relationships, as this intervention might be a starting point for above-mentioned research-opportunities.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is an acquired physical disability through traumatic injuries such as car accidents and shooting incidents, and non-traumatic injury such as a tumour on the spinal cord, amongst others. Unlike other parts of the body, the spinal cord does not have the ability to repair itself if it is damaged. Consequently, a person who has acquired an SCI will have a physical disability and will be either a paraplegic – paralysis of the lower part of the body, including the legs, or a quadriplegic, which is paralysis of all four limbs. Acquiring a spinal cord injury (SCI) has devastating long-term negative outcomes for the injured person as well as his/her cohabiting partner on a physical, psychological, psychosocial and socio-economical level. Exposure to such prolonged adversity and resulting negative outcomes calls for resilience, namely the ability to positively adapt despite the adversity being exposed to. Not all individuals have the natural ability to “bounce back”, and consequently resilience promotion is imperative. In South Africa, the focus of service delivery in rehabilitation centres is mainly centred on the injured person and consequently the well-being of the spinal cord injured person’s partner (SCIPP) is neglected. Little information is available on resilience-promoting programmes for SCIPPs; thus the main aim of this study was to design and develop a group resilience-promoting programme (GRPP) for SCIPPs. The researcher mainly followed a qualitative research approach and included a small quantitative component. In the context of applied research, an intervention research model comprising six phases was employed. Phase 1, Problem analysis and project planning, was reported on in section A. Manuscript 1 reports on phase 2 (information gathering and synthesis), and consists of a qualitative research synthesis, and mainly aimed at organizing and synthesizing previous research on resilience-promoting processes in order to inform the design and development of a group resilience-promoting programme (GRPP) for SCIPPs. After a systematic review and quality appraisal a total of 74 papers were selected to be quality appraised after abstracts and titles were assessed for relevance. Twenty-one studies were included and synthesized where after an outline for the content of a GRPP for SCIPPs was formulated. Conclusions and recommendations highlight that the formulated GRPP for SCIPPs needs to be further developed into an intervention that could be implemented with SCIPPs. As such, the researcher therefore proceeded with the study (see manuscript 2), aiming in developing small-group programme content and activities (using knowledge gathered from pre-existing interventions; resilience literature; consultations with experts; people living with spinal cord injury (SCI) and personal experience) to promote resilience in SCIPPs. By means of purposive sampling six advisory panel members from a diverse background were interviewed before and after the pilot study with two SCIPPs and one observer to contribute towards the further development of the GRPP for SCIPPs. A six-session GRPP for SCIPPs was formulated, including the following: (1) Information on SCI and resilience; (2) Help SCIPPs understand that their reactions to/emotions regarding these huge changes are normal; (3) Caretaking and support; (4) My dual role; (5) Own caretaking by SCIPPs; and (6) Termination and way forward. The newly developed GRPP for SCIPPs however had to be formally evaluated. Recommendations were made by professionals in the field that the GRPP for SCIPPs should first be subjected to peer review prior to implementing it with the target population. Therefore in manuscript 3 (reporting on phase 5 – evaluation ) the evaluation purpose was to subject the GRPP for SCIPPs to peer review by means of an empirical study with professional role-players (social workers and psychologists) in the field of spinal cord injury, prior to exhibiting it to the target population. The six group sessions were presented to professional role-players (n=12) working within the field of SCI during two 2-day workshops, whereby they were requested to evaluate the content and procedural elements of the GRPP for SCIPPs mainly by means of qualitative research, with a small numerical (quantitative) component. Thematic content analysis and basic descriptive statistics were employed. Overall positive feedback regarding the newly developed intervention was received, with suggested adjustments that needed to be made to the GRPP for SCIPPs prior to formal evaluation with the target group. The GRPP for SCIPPs will further be subjected to expert review in other provinces in South Africa, as the current participants were all from Gauteng. Furthermore, postgraduate students will be recruited to test the programme with the target-population in South Africa for possible further improvement and suggestions, as well as possible expansion to adjust this intervention to meet the needs of male SCIPPs; SCIPs themselves; children of a parent/s living with SCI; and also for post-injury cohabiting relationships, as this intervention might be a starting point for above-mentioned research-opportunities.

To advance social work practice and decrease the research practice gap, this dissertation followed a model development paradigm consisting of several phases. Based on the task-centered model of social work practice and motivational interviewing, a new combined model was construed. The two underlying models were analyzed and synthesized, using technical eclecticism as the integrative approach. The resulting combined model was described by guidelines and manualized. To test the combined model in an applied setting, a study was designed in collaboration with social workers at a substance abuse counseling center. There, the combined model intervention was implemented in an outpatient medication assisted treatment program dispensing methadone and buprenorphine to a mainly African-American population. The agency program aimed at detoxification, but also provided methadone maintenance. It offered additional groups and acupuncture. Ten clients and four social work practitioners participated in the intervention study. The study used a mixed-method approach in data collection and analysis. Client practitioner verbal interaction was recorded using digital audio recording. The digital audio files were loaded directly into Atlas.ti software to be used for analysis. Qualitative data analysis with Atlas.ti was performed for two research tasks, a) assessing implementation fidelity of the manual based intervention and b) exploring model development aspects to improve model guidelines. Treatment fidelity was analyzed through deductive coding and frequency counts. Model development analysis was performed similar to a grounded theory model and used content analysis and constant comparison methodologies. Addiction Severity Index and Readiness Ruler, urine drug screens, problem change, and task accomplishment ratings were used as quantitative outcome measures to produce time series data in order to chart individual case progress in a single system design. After testing the intervention, a focus group with participating practitioners was conducted. Overall beneficence with clients improving and progressing successfully in the program was found. The integration of the underlying models was deemed successful. Their elements were found to be complementary and intricately linked. Crucial for successful implementation is that the program environment supports and accepts client choices. Model guidelines were reviewed and improved for further field testing.

La reconnaissance touche toutes les personnes et de nombreux domaines. La complexité sémantique du concept tend à rendre floues sa représentation et son utilisation. Le concept de reconnaissance s’inscrit dans des interrogations transdisciplinaires: philosophiques, psychologiques, sociologiques, biologiques et anthropologiques en particulier. Ce concept est de plus en plus utilisé en sciences de gestion. À l’heure du multiculturalisme, des crises économiques, d’une gestion de plus en plus impersonnelle de l’humain, et de la perte de sens du travail, les chercheurs et praticiens s’interrogent sur les modalités d’une bonne reconnaissance et sur les coûts engendrés par les défauts de reconnaissance au travail. En effet, replacer l’Homme au cœur du travail et assurer le respect réciproque des différents acteurs, non-hiérarchiques comme hiérarchiques, devient une nécessité.Cet objet de recherche est encore émergent en sciences de gestion. Il est pourtant au fondement de phénomènes d’actualité, notamment la gestion de la diversité et de la responsabilité sociale. Il est donc la cible d’enjeux moraux. Au regard des impacts liés à la dépersonnalisation du travail, de plus en plus d’individus, du haut en bas de la hiérarchie dans les organisations, s’interrogent sur les enjeux sociaux et économiques du manque de reconnaissance et de la gestion de la reconnaissance. Cette thèse vise à mettre en évidence les liens forts qui existent entre la reconnaissance et la performance, notamment lorsque les organisations visent une performance socio-économique durable.La première partie explicite les fondements conceptuels et méthodologiques de la recherche, et présente nos terrains d’expérimentations. Le concept de reconnaissance est abordé sous un angle polysémique et transdisciplinaire. La justification de la méthodologie, l’exploitation de plus de 400 entretiens, issus de 12 organisations, avec l’ensemble des catégories de personnel, et l’étude de deux cas longitudinaux, attestent de la robustesse du travail de recherche.La seconde partie explique l’origine socialement construite de la reconnaissance au regard de l’histoire de chaque individu. Elle analyse sa dimension perceptive et symbolique. Nous proposons une nomenclature du système de reconnaissance et inventorions un certain nombre de facteurs transversaux qui influencent les perceptions de reconnaissance et leurs impacts sur les sentiments de satisfaction et d’insatisfaction. Enfin, nous étudions l’influence de trois variables (la taille de l’organisation, le niveau hiérarchique et le secteur d’activité) sur les attentes de reconnaissance.La troisième partie analyse deux cas longitudinaux et établit des liens entre la reconnaissance et la performance. Nous évaluons les coûts liés aux mauvaises pratiques de reconnaissance et au manque de reconnaissance. Nous catégorisons deux systèmes de reconnaissance dialectiques présents dans les organisations et apportons des résultats relatifs aux pratiques mises en place. Nous proposons enfin des pistes d’amélioration de la reconnaissance, pour développer une performance socio-économique durable à travers l’élaboration du concept de « reconnaissance activatrice ». / Recognition affects every one in a lot of situation. Because it’s semantic complexity, the concept is not easy to clearly define and use it. Miscellaneous branches as : Philosophy, psychology, Sociology, Biology or Anthropology, are wondering by this concept of recognition. This concept is still used more and more by the Management Sciences. This period is marked by development of multiculturalism, the appearance of economic crisis, an increase of impersonal management of the human being and a loss of work sense. So, researchers and practitioners are thinking about the way over to set forth right recognition rules and about the costs created by the defects of recognition at work. Indeed, it becomes a necessity to place Man into the heart of the work and secure a mutual respect between the various actors, hierarchical or not.This research object is emerging in the field of Management Sciences. However, it is the basis of currents events, especially concerning the diversity management and the social responsibility. So, the subject is really at the focal point of moral stakes. Facing the impacts sourced by the depersonalization into the working organizations, more and more people from the bottom to the top of theirs hierarchy are questioning on the social and economic stakes coming from missing recognition and recognition management. This thesis aims at to place in an obvious position the strong links existing between recognition and performance, especially when the organizations want sustainable socioeconomic performances.The first part of the thesis clarify the abstract and methodological bases of these investigations and set out our experimentations fields. The recognition concept is approached under a polysemic and interdisciplinary angle. The justification of the methodology, the exploitation of more than 400 interviews from 12 organizations with the whole employee’s grades and the study of two longitudinal cases testify the robustness of the research work.The second part explain the socially constructed origin of recognition according to the history of each person. It analyzes its perceptive and symbolical aspects. We propose a list of the system of recognition and make an inventory of several transverse factors acting upon the recognition perceptions and their impacts on the feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. At last, we study the influence of three variables : the organization size, the hierarchical level and the business branch, upon the recognition expectations.The third part analyzes two longitudinal cases and establishes links between recognition and performance. We estimate the costs connected to the bad practices in recognition and to the lack of recognition. We categorize two dialectical recognition systems into the organizations and bring results according to these practices. At last, we suggest some possibilities for a recognition enhancement aiming to develop sustainable socioeconomic performances by the elaboration of concept : « activating recognition ».

Les transferts de compétences et de savoir-faire (TC / TSF) dans les organisations revêtent un enjeu stratégique pour leur survie-développement et nécessitent donc une préparation minutieuse ainsi qu’un pilotage rigoureux afin d’apporter toute leur valeur ajoutée.La première partie explicite les fondements conceptuels et méthodologiques de la recherche et présente les terrains d’investigation et d’expérimentation de nos hypothèses et outils. Elle présente les enjeux liés aux transferts de compétences et de savoir-faire à partir de l’analyse des entretiens réalisés, des dysfonctionnements et de leurs coûts cachés de régulation. Nous étudions l’importance de la définition d’une politique de TC / TSF par la direction ainsi que les rôles et les pratiques des ressources humaines dans le pilotage des compétences et de leur transfert.Dans la deuxième partie, nous étudions le rôle-clé détenu par le manager de proximité, de par sa position stratégique dans l’organisation et ses pratiques managériales, dans le pilotage et la mise en œuvre de la politique de transfert de savoir-faire, ainsi que dans le suivi et le développement des performances individuelles et collectives. Nous étudions aussi les impacts socio-économiques des actions de TC / TSF et du pilotage de ces actions par les managers de proximité. Enfin, nous proposons le concept de manager de proximité-développeur en nous appuyant sur les évolutions du management au cours du XXème siècle, sur le concept de formation intégrée et l’importance de la pédagogie. Nous proposons des outils de management pour permettre aux managers de proximité de mieux piloter les TC /TSF. / The transfer of skills and know-how (TS/TKH) in organizations are of strategic importance for their survival and development and therefore require careful and rigorous control to provide any added value preparation.The first explicit conceptual and methodological research foundations and has lots of investigation and experimentation of our assumptions and tools part . It presents the issues related to the transfer of skills and know-how from the analysis of interviews, dysfunctions and their hidden regulatory costs. We study the importance of the definition of a policy of TS / TKH by management and the roles and practices of human resource skills management and transfer.In the second part, we study the key role held by the manager of proximity, its strategic position in the organization and management practices in the management and implementation of the policy of transfer of know -how, as well as in the monitoring and development of individual and collective performance. We also study the socio -economic impacts of actions TS / TKH and control these actions by local managers. Finally, we propose the concept of proximity manager - developer relying on the evolution of management in the twentieth century, the concept of integrated training and the importance of education. We offer management tools to allow local managers to better manage the TS / TKH.

Adolescent peer counselling as a social support strategy to assist adolescents to cope with stress in their peer group provides the focus for the present thesis. The prosocial behaviour of providing emotional and psychological support through the use of helping conversations by young people is examined. Current programs for training adolescent peer counsellors have failed to discover what skills adolescents bring to the helping conversation. They ignore, actively discourage, and censor, some typical adolescent conversational helping behaviours and idiosyncratic communication processes. Current programs for training adolescent peer counsellors rely on teaching microcounselling skills from adult counselling models. When using this approach, the adolescent peer helper training literature reports skill implementation, role attribution and status differences as being problematic for trained adolescent peer counsellors (Carr, 1984; de Rosenroll, 1988; Morey & Miller, 1993). For example Carr (1984) recognised that once core counselling skills have been reasonably mastered that young people " may feel awkward, mechanical or phoney" (p. 11) when trying to implement the new skills. Problematic issues with regard to role attribution and status differences appear to relate to the term 'peer counsellor' and its professional expectations, including training and duties (Anderson, 1976; Jacobs, Masson & Vass, 1976; Myrick, 1976). A particular concern of Peavy (1977) was that for too many people counselling was an acceptable label for advice giving and that the role of counsellor could imply professional status. De Rosenroll (1988) cautioned against creating miniature mirror images of counselling and therapeutic professionals in young people. However, he described a process whereby status difference is implied when a group of adolescent peer counsellors is trained and invited to participate in activities that require appropriate ethical guidelines including competencies, training, confidentiality and supervision. While Carr and Saunders (1981) suggest, "student resentment of the peer counsellor is not a problem" they go on to say, "this is not to say that the problem does not exist" (p. 21). The authors suggest that as a concern the problem can be minimised by making sure the peer counsellors are not 'forced' on the student body and by providing opportunities for peer counsellors to develop ways of managing resentment. De Rosenroll (1988) acknowledges that the adolescent peer counsellor relationship may fall within a paraprofessional framework in that a difference in status may be inferred from the differing life experiences of the peer counsellor when compared with their student peers. The current project aimed to discover whether the issues of skill implementation, role attribution and status differences could be addressed so that adolescent peer counselling, a valuable social support resource, could be made more attractive to, and useful for adolescents. The researcher's goal was to discover what young people typically do when they help each other conversationally, what they want to learn that would enhance their conversational helping behaviour, and how they experience and respond to their role as peer counsellor, and then to use the information obtained in the development of an adolescent-friendly peer counsellor training program. By doing this, the expectation was that the problematic issues cited in the literature could be addressed. Guided by an ethnographic framework the project also examined the influence of an adolescent-friendly peer counsellor training program on the non-peer counsellor students in the wider adolescent community of the high school. Three sequential studies were undertaken. In Study 1, the typical adolescent conversational and communications skills that young people use when helping each other were identified. In addition, those microcounselling skills that young people found useful and compatible with their typical communication processes were identified. In Study 2, an intervention research process was used to develop, deliver, and evaluate an adolescent-friendly peer counsellor training program which combined typical adolescent helping behaviours with preferred counselling microskills selected by participants in Study 1. The intervention research paradigm was selected as the most appropriate methodology for this study because it is designed to provide an integrated perspective for understanding, developing, and examining the feasibility and effectiveness of innovative human services interventions (Bailey-Dempsey & Reid, 1996; Rothman & Thomas, 1994). Intervention research is typically conducted in a field setting in which researchers and practitioners work together to design and assess interventions. When applying intervention research methodology researchers and practitioners begin by selecting the problem they want to remedy, reviewing the literature, identifying criteria for appropriate and effective intervention, integrating the information into plans for the intervention and then testing the intervention to reveal the intervention's strengths and flaws. Researchers then suggest modifications to make the intervention more effective, and satisfying for participants. In the final stage of intervention research, researchers disseminate information about the intervention and make available manuals and other training materials developed along the way (Comer, Meier, & Galinsky, 2004). In Study 2 an adolescent-friendly peer counsellor training manual was developed. Study 3 evaluated the impact of the peer counsellor training longitudinally on the wider school community. In particular, the project was interested in whether exposure to trained peer counsellors influenced students who were not peer counsellors with regard to their perceptions of self-concept, the degree of use of specific coping strategies and on their perceptions of the school climate. Study three included the development of A School Climate Survey which focused on the psychosocial aspects of school climate from the student's perspective. Two factors which were significantly correlated (p<.01) were identified. Factor 1 measured students' perceptions of student relationships, and Factor 2 measured students' perceptions of teachers' relationships with students. The present project provides confirmation of a number of findings that other studies have identified regarding the idiosyncratic nature of adolescent communication, and the conversational and relational behaviours of young people (Chan, 2001; Noller, Feeney, & Peterson, 2001; Papini & Farmer, 1990; Rafaelli & Duckett, 1989; Readdick & Mullis, 1997; Rotenberg, 1995; Turkstra, 2001; Worcel et al., 1999; Young et al., 1999). It extends this research by identifying the specific conversational characteristics that young people use in helping conversations. The project confirmed the researcher's expectation that some counselling microskills currently used in training adolescent peer counsellors are not easy to use by adolescents and are considered by adolescents to be unhelpful. It also confirmed that some typical adolescent conversational helping behaviours which have been proscribed for use in other adolescent peer counsellor training programs are useful in adolescent peer counselling. The project conclusively demonstrated that the adolescent-friendly peer counsellor training program developed in the project overcame the difficulties of skill implementation identified in the adolescent peer counselling literature (Carr, 1984). The project identified for the first time the process used by adolescent peer counsellors to deal with issues related to role attribution and status difference. The current project contributes new information to the peer counselling literature through the discovery of important differences between early adolescent and late adolescent peer counsellors with regard to acquiring and mastering counselling skills, and their response to role attribution and status difference issues among their peers following counsellor training. As a result of the substantive findings the current project makes a significant contribution to social support theory and prosocial theory and to the adolescent peer counselling literature. It extends the range of prosocial behaviours addressed in published research by specifically examining the conversational helping behaviour of adolescents from a relational perspective. The current project provides new information that contributes to knowledge of social support in the form of conversational behaviour among adolescents identifying the interactive, collaborative, reciprocal and idiosyncratic nature of helping conversations in adolescents. Tindall (1989) suggests that peer counsellor trainers explore a variety of ways to approach a single training model that can augment and supplement the training process to meet specific group needs. The current project responded to this suggestion by investigating which counselling skills and behaviours adolescent peer counsellor trainees preferred, were easy to use by them, and were familiar to them, and then by using an intervention research process, devised a training program which incorporated these skills and behaviours into a typical adolescent helping conversation. A mixed method longitudinal design was used in an ecologically valid setting. The longitudinal nature of the design enabled statements about the process of the peer counsellors' experience to be made. The project combined qualitative and quantitative methods of data gathering. Qualitative data reflects the phenomenological experience of the adolescent peer counsellor and the researcher and quantitative data provides an additional platform from which to view the findings. The intervention research paradigm provided a developmental research method that is appropriate for practice research. The intervention research model is more flexible than conventional experimental designs, capitalises on the availability of small samples, accommodates the dynamism and variation in practice conditions and diverse populations, and explicitly values the insights of the researcher as a practitioner. The project combines intervention research with involvement of the researcher in the project thus enabling the researcher to view and report the findings through her own professional and practice lens.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test the efficacy of a short-term structured play therapy treatment program for latency-aged children of divorce between six and twelve years of age. Following parental divorce latency-aged children often manifest disturbed emotional and behavioural functioning in several areas of their lives including issues such as self-image problems and poor academic functioning. In many instances, problems are acute and necessitate effective help in a relatively short time. Several play therapy modalities exist for children with some focusing on problems stemming from divorce. However, due to their complex, unstructured and lengthy nature, most of the treatment programs reviewed were relatively ineffective for most social workers. Increasingly families have little time and/or limited financial resources to commit to long-term therapy. A literature review showed a clear need for a shorter, less complex treatment program to solve the problem of limited finances and time constraints of parents seeking help for their children. A seven-stage, short-term structured play therapy program was developed for this study, including a pre-and post-treatment assessment, which focused on the main areas of dysfunction prominent among latency-aged children of divorce. The program was implemented by treating a female latency-aged child from a divorced family. The findings showed that the short-term structured play therapy program developed for this study appears to be effective in dealing with necessary and important psychological tasks facing children of divorce. The treatment program worked effectively with a female latency-aged child and facilitated psychological and emotional movement in a relatively short period of time. For social workers specialising in child play therapy the treatment program will be easy to use since all activities are clearly structured and explained with materials utilised in the sessions easy to obtain. As such, it could be a necessary and effective addition to the social work profession. / Social Work / D. Phil. (Social Work)

Although the White Paper on Families (2013) stipulates that family resilience should be strengthened in family preservation services, no guidelines exist for social workers in the South African context to do so. A need for practice guidelines for social workers in rendering services to families to strengthen family resilience was identified. The following central research question was formulated: How and by doing what, can social workers foster and sustain family resilience? The Intervention Design and Development (IDD) model of Rothman and Thomas (1994) was adapted for the study which included qualitative research to explore and describe the understanding, experiences and suggestions of social workers on family resilience for informing the family resilience intervention guidelines. Data was collected through focus- group and face-to-face semi-structured interviews with social workers employed by the Department of Social Development, and the NGOs from Gauteng, North West and Limpopo province. Tesch’s steps (cited in Creswell 2009:186) were used to analyse the data systematically and data was verified by Guba’s model (cited in Krefting 1991:214–222). Implementing steps 1–5 of phase 1, steps 1–3 of phase 2, step 2 of phase 3 and steps 1–3 of phase 4 of the IDD model, “Practice Guidelines for Social Workers to foster and sustain Family Resilience” (“The Guidelines”) were developed by translating the family resilience theory into practice to guide social workers to be able to develop and implement a family resilience intervention. The content of “The Guidelines” include an introduction containing the social work service delivery principles, the theoretical approaches of service delivery to families and the legislative and policy framework for services to families that would underpin a family resilience intervention. Section 1 of “The Guidelines” was developed and structured around the understanding of the family resilience construct and the family resilience process model on how family resilience operates. Section 2 of “The Guidelines” is presented in a question and answer format. This section provides practical guidelines on how to identify the target group for family resilience interventions, the reciprocal relationship between individual resilience and family resilience, family resilience interventions following the social work intervention process (i.e. intake, developmental assessment, a family developmental plan, and intervention strategies in accordance with the basket of services for families and monitoring and evaluation), how to integrate the domains of family resilience into the family resilience intervention, the need for education of both the social worker and client family on family resilience, the multi-dimensional aspects of the family requiring a multi-disciplinary approach and the role that the safety of family members play when rendering a family resilience intervention. / Social Work / D. Phil. (Social Work)